G Wiv wrote:The downside is Wall-Mart, check out took 35-minutes, mainly due to gift cards, and they are ALL Self Checkout now. Worse done gots worser.

I think I'd rather cook on gas than shop at Wal-Mart.

FYI, Zier's in Wilmette had the red, 15-pound bags of Royal Oak lump back in stock today. I didn't buy any, so I didn't ask about the price.

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ronnie_suburban wrote:I think I'd rather cook on gas than shop at Wal-Mart.

Bride had gift certificates, she wanted Miracle-Gro Potting Mix. Wal-Mart stocks Miracle-Gro Potting Mix. When the bride buys anything over tenish pounds I'm the mule.

G Wiv wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:I think I'd rather cook on gas than shop at Wal-Mart.

Bride had gift certificates, she wanted Miracle-Gro Potting Mix. Wal-Mart stocks Miracle-Gro Potting Mix. When the bride buys anything over tenish pounds I'm the mule.

Yeah, understood. I didn't mean to bash, was just wrestling with my own personal limits.

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20 lb bags of Royal Oak Chef's Select available for $11 at Fresh Farms on Golf.

Giovanna

Giovanna wrote:20 lb bags of Royal Oak Chef's Select available for $11 at Fresh Farms on Golf.

I spotted 20-pound bags of Nature-Glo, Royal Oak's foodservice counterpart, at Fresh Farms on Touhy today. I wasn't shopping for charcoal, so I didn't note the price.

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Giovanna wrote:20 lb bags of Royal Oak Chef's Select available for $11 at Fresh Farms on Golf.

FF Touhy, though its briquettes not lump charcoal. Decent price, good product, far as briquettes go, not my style.

click to enlarge


Natural Lump Charcoal, count me a Fan!

Fresh Farms on Golf had what seemed to be a huge supply of charcoal today, including 20-pound bags of Nature-Glo for $19.99 . . .


Charcoal @ Fresh Farms on Golf - 21.0706

Is the shortage over? If so, I expect a huge amount of barely used Weber kettles to start showing up on ebay, craigslist etc. very soon.

Having scrounged my way around the charcoal shortage during the pandemic, I have to say that Royal Oak went from being my favorite to being on the low end of my range. Just about every other brand I burned was superior, even the Nature-Glo, which I realize is a Royal Oak brand.

The Royal Oak stuff is usually really small pieces and there are almost always rocks in it. It burns too fast and leaves a lot of unburned pieces and messy residue. Having used Wicked Good, Rockwood and B&B more frequently during the pandemic made me realize how much I like them, even for everyday grilling. They burn a lot longer and cleaner, leaving behind fully burned piles of very light, white ash.

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Bought 2 bags of regular royal oak lump at walmart a couple of months ago and they were the worst I have ever bought. Maybe got a little over 2 chimneys of usable product out of each 20 pound bag. the rest was small chips and dust. I have never seen anything like it. Ended up tossing about half or more of each bag. Bags looked fine and not abused. Found a new to me brand at the Ace on 41 and 22, blues hog, on sale for $20 for 20 pounds. Its up next.

-Will

Had luck with the Cowboy brand at Costco. Not all consistently large chunks, but mostly usable. Good value.

spinynorman99 wrote:Had luck with the Cowboy brand at Costco. Not all consistently large chunks, but mostly usable. Good value.

Does it do a lot of popping and cracking? That's my main memory of the stuff from when I bought a bag a few years ago. Kind of volatile. I wasn't thrilled with it but since I'm always looking for viable lump charcoal, maybe I should give it another shot? Thanks.

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The only time I had popping and cracking was from using Mesquite. Could that be mixed in with the Cowboy Charcoal?

Cathy2 wrote:The only time I had popping and cracking was from using Mesquite. Could that be mixed in with the Cowboy Charcoal?

The label says oak and hickory. I presumed it was a density issue but I'm certainly no expert.

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WillG wrote:Bought 2 bags of regular royal oak lump at walmart a couple of months ago and they were the worst I have ever bought. Maybe got a little over 2 chimneys of usable product out of each 20 pound bag. the rest was small chips and dust. I have never seen anything like it. Ended up tossing about half or more of each bag. Bags looked fine and not abused. Found a new to me brand at the Ace on 41 and 22, blues hog, on sale for $20 for 20 pounds. Its up next.

-Will

That Ace has the biggest selection of lump charcoal I have seen anywhere.

lougord99 wrote:

WillG wrote:Bought 2 bags of regular royal oak lump at walmart a couple of months ago and they were the worst I have ever bought. Maybe got a little over 2 chimneys of usable product out of each 20 pound bag. the rest was small chips and dust. I have never seen anything like it. Ended up tossing about half or more of each bag. Bags looked fine and not abused. Found a new to me brand at the Ace on 41 and 22, blues hog, on sale for $20 for 20 pounds. Its up next.

-Will

That Ace has the biggest selection of lump charcoal I have seen anywhere.

Yes and no. Nice selection but it seems like they only order certain charcoals about once a year, after which it's 'wait 'til next year' if you want more. I wish they'd keep continuous stock of some of their charcoals.

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